If you will recall the context of our last entry, it was the first appearance of exuberant praise and celebratory dance, in response to God’s miraculous deliverance of the children of Israel from the Pharaoh and his army.
Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses. Exodus 14:31
Now let’s read what happens in the very next verses.
Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" Exodus 15:22-24
I can appreciate the severity of the situation here. After three days of walking in the wilderness, the people are in genuine danger of dying of thirst. They get to an oasis, which stirs hope in their hearts, only to have those hopes dashed when they find the water undrinkable! This is not just frustrating; it is life-threatening. No wonder they fell back into their old ways of grumbling against Moses and doubting the LORD.
But, wait a minute! How long had they been in the wilderness? Three days. And how far had God told them to go?
We must go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he tells us. Exodus 8:27
Could it be that this was the very place that God intended to lead them? That this, of all places, is where they were destined to worship God—the very place that they would die?
And so, rather than responding by faith, asking God why he had taken them to a place of bitterness, they respond in the flesh, complaining against Moses. At least Moses bothers to pray and ask God what His plans are, and God provides a simple solution, involving a branch, and all is well. This is a very common story in the Bible, isn’t it? Someone is led by God to a place that is hard, but it turns out to be the launching pad of God’s blessing. Joseph in prison. Jesus in Gethsemane. Paul in Jerusalem. And you . . . in (fill in the blank).
Indeed. Sometimes, God leads us to a place of bitterness. We are not out of His will. We have not sinned or misread the signs. And yet, we suffer, to the brink of death itself.
YOUR ENCOUNTER
Now, what about you? Has God led you to an oasis with bitter water? Has God led you to a place of holy discontent, where you are no longer effective or fulfilled in your role? Moreover, have you done what God has asked and found it to be a difficult, even a dangerous task? Have resources dried up?
We are adoptive parents of children who came to us as foster children, and have found that a child’s problems don’t just go away when they are in a loving home. We live in an urban neighborhood, and have opened our home to neighbors, only to have some of them steal or damage what they found at our house. We have poured months of counsel and help into homeless or addicted neighbors, only to find that they are practiced liars who are only looking for money. Our children have felt unsafe when our boundaries have been too porous. There have been sexual assaults and fist fights and vandalism. And we have been tempted to become bitter and remove ourselves from our calling, because we have bitter, undrinkable water.
Yet, we have not even come close to shedding blood for the Gospel, as Hebrews says. And we have not been so fully committed as Paul was to do the work of Christ, even in the face of death. So our bitter water is not so life-threatening as it might be. Even so, we want to quit.
I share some of our story to prompt you in yours. We are not out to compare suffering, but to encourage one another to stay in the calling to which He has called us. If we are obeying, then we can trust that there may be a sweetening branch nearby that we have not asked God to show us yet. Share your story, and then together ask God to make a way to deliver you from the hardship, so that you may continue to walk in obedience. Write your thoughts in your journal.